Various food products are of a type that can be prepared or cooked in accordance with taste preferences of the person or persons expected to consume the food item. Meat items, in particular, are cooked to taste preferences of a specific person. Such meat items may include steaks, pork chops, hamburger patties, roasts, rolls, racks and the like. For some such meat items, including beef, veal and lamb, a cooking selection often is made from known taste preferences or health requirements, including rare, medium rare, medium, medium well, and well done.
Food thermometers have been used to indicate an amount that a food product is cooked, referred to herein as its “doneness”. Most of these food thermometers incorporate a probe that is inserted into the food. The probe is in operative communication with a temperature-measuring device. In certain food thermometers, the user is required to insert the probe into the food item prior to, or in the early stages of cooking, particularly when the food is being cooked in an enclosed oven, grill or the like.
Many food thermometers provide a direct reading of the temperature of the cooking food at the location of the probe. With this approach, the user is required to be aware of the significance of the food temperature insofar as it correlates to the extent of doneness that is desired or required for a particular type of meat, or other food item. Most individuals are entirely unaware as to what temperature the interior of a chicken breast, for instance, needs to be cooked, instead relying on an interior or exterior color of the cooking food. A device is needed that can provide not only the temperature of cooking food, but also a level of doneness of the food.
Other food thermometers provide an indicator, such as a pop-up element, that is activated when a threshold temperature is reached in accordance with a predetermined extent of doneness. This approach can be especially useful for food products that are not cooked according to typical selected doneness levels, but instead achieve an accepted doneness level upon reaching a single selected temperature. In general, food thermometers of this type are not adjustable. In addition, typically no means are provided for informing the user whether the “done” signal had just occurred or had occurred previously. In the latter event, the desired degree of doneness could have been far surpassed by the time the user recognizes that the food is done, resulting in overcooking of a food item.
Typical food thermometers that contain electronic components have a further drawback in that they are not dishwasher safe. Electronic items can be damaged if water penetrates their internal circuitry. The contents of dishwashers can normally expect to be attacked with jets of scalding hot water. As a result, most previously devised food preparation tools containing electronic circuitry, such as food thermometers having electronic components, are, as a rule, not considered dishwasher safe.
Food thermometers that are limited to reporting a temperature require a knowledgeable user and diligent monitoring of temperature changes. In addition, food thermometers that are limited to providing only a done indication function typically are not adjustable and likewise require careful and diligent attention to avoid overcooking so that cooking can be stopped or reduced promptly after a doneness indicator has become activated. Food thermometers containing electronic circuitry are not dishwasher safe.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.